CHICAGO & PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Onbe, a market-leading corporate disbursements platform, published its 2024 Auto Finance Payments Survey exploring automotive consumers’ refund preferences. When receiving payouts across the automotive ecosystem, from loan overpayment to Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) insurance refunds, car buyers and lessees look for payment choice and a variety of digital payment offerings. Beyond appreciating the convenience of their preferred payment options, consumers perceive digital refund experiences as more transparent, with 67% of survey respondents agreeing that digital payouts would positively impact their trust in their automotive financing provider. Leveraging instant and choice-driven digital solutions empowers consumers with simpler, clearer payout experiences, leading to improved satisfaction at a moment worth celebrating: the end of a financing term.
Consumers are often surprised to receive automotive financing refunds, with Onbe’s study discovering that 62% of respondents have felt unsure whether they were owed a refund at the end of their loan or lease term. Digital-first solutions for both payments and communications make the auto financing journey easier to understand, according to 73% of auto consumers in Onbe’s survey. By modernizing the refund process to include an explanation for the payment along with instant and secure redemption options, auto lenders can provide buyers with clarity and instill trust during a critical point in the financing journey.
“When buying or leasing a car, auto consumers deserve fast, secure and choice-driven payment experiences at every step of the process, including when they are owed a refund,” said Melissa Hentschel, Chief Client Officer at Onbe. “Switching to digital solutions helps automotive lenders simplify the refund process and promote clarity for their customers while reducing the cost and complexity of payout administration and keeping up with the evolving regulatory landscape.”
Additional findings from Onbe’s 2024 Auto Finance Payments Survey include:
- 60% of consumers have received a refund for overpayment during the auto loan payoff process, while 47% have received a refund for GAP insurance.
- 88% of respondents say a digital payment would be more convenient than getting a check in the mail.
- 71% say speed, accuracy and convenience are most important for auto consumers when receiving a refund payment related to their loan.
Growing at 11.4% each year, the auto finance market is projected to reach $3.21 trillion by 2027, especially as emerging digital technologies make processes such as qualifying consumers for a loan faster and more efficient. This rapid growth coupled with recent advancements in loan processing brings a greater need for solutions to process refunds and other payments quickly and compliantly. Offering context-driven payouts with in-demand choices will be key for auto loan providers to streamline their payment operations while delivering the transparency and convenience buyers and lessees expect.
For more information about Onbe’s automotive payment solutions, visit www.onbe.com/industries/automotive.
About Onbe
With more than 25 years of industry experience and offices in Chicago, Philadelphia and London, Onbe is a fintech that manages and modernizes customer and workforce disbursements for corporate clients ranging from mid-market to the Fortune 500. Onbe’s team of experts and technology platform offers clients a turnkey solution to offload their entire B2C payment operations, relieving them of the cost, complexity and risk that comes with orchestrating these payments in-house. Backed by top-tier investors, Onbe delivers on today’s consumer expectations for instant, digital and seamless payments. To learn more, visit www.onbe.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
About Methodology
The Spring 2024 Auto Finance Payments Survey is the seventh iteration of Onbe’s monthly payments market research survey. The purpose of this survey is to learn how consumers prefer to receive automotive refunds and to better understand the challenges they currently face when receiving these payments. Respondents were asked to complete a survey with 23 questions in April 2024. We received a total of 1,056 responses with a 32% qualifying rate, collected from across the United States and from demographics reflective of national diversity. Respondents must have been at least 18 years of age to qualify for the survey; another piece of qualifying criteria consisted of respondents needing to have purchased or leased a vehicle and receiving both funding and a refund from their auto lender.
